Rich Hill Emotional Following Red Sox Season Debut Vs. Blue Jays

Rich Hill has had a whirlwind August. The 44-year-old left-hander signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox on Aug. 16. He tossed two scoreless innings, striking out two in one appearance with Triple-A Worcester before being activated by the Red Sox on Tuesday.

He made his season debut at Fenway Park on Thursday night when manager Alex Cora made the call to the bullpen in the seventh inning of the series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays. Hill pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings, striking out two of the four batters he faced in Boston’s 2-0 loss to Toronto. He was emotional as he collected his thoughts after the game.

“It was great. It’s good, it’s good. It was a lot of fun,” Hill struggled to articulate, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Kutter (Crawford), the way he threw the ball tonight was excellent. Greg (Weissert) came in and did an unbelievable job. Danny (Jansen) behind the dish was really seamless, easy to work with. There’s a lot of people to thank to get to this point. It’s special.”

Despite the stellar pitching from Crawford, Hill and Wiessert, the Red Sox offense could not solve Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis. Francis allowed just one hit and struck out five hitters in seven innings.

“Unfortunately, the biggest thing is we want to come away with a win,” Hill said. “Being around this clubhouse for the last couple of days and seeing the way these guys work and put in that time … get back on track tomorrow in Detroit and just get back after it.

“I think that’s kind of been the heartbeat of this clubhouse. Just the continuous grind throughout the season, and it’s one thing that certainly I’ve seen in the last couple of days. Looking forward to getting back in that W column.”

Cora anticipates using Hill down the stretch with 28 games remaining in the regular season.

“He did an outstanding job. We brought him in with men on to get a lefty out, did a good job,” Cora told reporters after the game. “… He’s not here just to hang out. He’s here to contribute. … We believe that he can get people out, and he did an amazing job.”

“… His stuff has been the same for seven years, 88 (mph), but spins it. He’ll throw it in the zone. He’ll make you look away as a lefty and then he has a good fastball. I think it was a good one for him. The first one, close game and a first two outs to get his feet wet, if he needed experience. We’ll use him the right way, but I do believe he is going to contribute.”

This marks Hill’s fourth stint with the Red Sox. He previously pitched for Boston from 2010 to 2012, 2015 and 2022, logging a 3.31 ERA and a 12-8 record across 185 innings.